In Early Stage 1 at Barnier PS we utilise this highly engaging evidenced based Draw-Talk-Write approach to teach and inspire writing. In this strategy, young writers draw and talk about their ideas first, adding writing when they are ready to do so. A child may move through the draw-talk-write (Mackenzie, 2011) cycle a number of times throughout a writing lesson.

Children are encouraged to build on what they already ‘know and can do’, thus providing “a powerful connection between home and school [and preschool] and offering both motivation and scaffolding for early writing” (Mackenzie, 2011, p.323).

The teacher (or parent or teaching assistant) acts as a model and facilitator of the drawing and talking, and can use opportunities for teaching about writing, offering appropriate input to meet individual needs.

This approach is the result of Australian research conducted by Mackenzie between 2010 and 2019. Findings show that when drawing is valued and given priority as a meaning making system for children particularly within the first six months of school, the written texts created when they write are longer and more complex, than when conventional writing is introduced without the supports of drawing and talking.

What Is the Science of Reading?

At Barnier Public School we have shifted our approach to the teaching of reading to align with The Science of Reading. The term “Science of Reading” refers to the research that reading experts, especially cognitive scientists, have conducted on how we learn to read. This body of knowledge, over twenty years in the making, has helped debunk older methods of reading instruction that were based on tradition and observation, not evidence.

Since 2000, there have been major reviews of the teaching of reading in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Based on the Science of Reading there are 5 key essential components of reading: phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. The CESE literature review ‘Effective reading instruction in the early years of school’ summarises this research and concludes that, to be most successful, the five key components must be taught explicitly, sequentially and systematically.

In Early Stage 1 we utilise components of the Little Learners Love Literacy program to help explicitly teach these five key components.